November and December 1978 have been the harvest months. In practically all
the villages freshly dug out groundnuts have been thrust at us by way of
apology for lack of attendance at the Night Classes. The people have been very
busy every day harvesting the groundnuts. In the evening they rush back for a
quick meal, and are back again guarding the fields against poachers the entire
night. Yet the harvest season has been a fertile season for issues related to
the ownership control and cultivation of lands. Our hands have been full (not
just with groundnuts) these past 2 months.

There has been a strong pressure on us to expand. Labourers from distant
villages have been approaching us with issues and problems that we are just
unable to take up for lack of time and personnel. At the same time, we realise
that most of the contract wages issues that will crop up this coming summer
when the public works department and famine relief works begin, just cannot be
tackled unless we have a much wider coverage. We have also begun, these 2
months, to shake off our Harijan identity.